Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

As there’s 19 years difference between the latest Indiana Jones movie and the third franchise (The Last Crusade), director Steven Spielberg acknowledged Harrison Ford’s age and set the film 19 years after the events of the third movie. The Last Crusade took place in 1938; Kingdom of the Crystal Skull takes place in 1957.

Screen writers Tom Stoppard, Manoj Night Shyamalan, Jeffrey Boam, Frank Darabont and Jeff Nathanson were asked to pen a draft of the screenplay. But David Koepp (Zathura, War of the Worlds) ultimately wrote the script which sent the film into production. Shooting finally commenced on June 18, 2007.

Crystal Skull has been in development hell since the 1989 release of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade because Spielberg and Ford initially disagreed over Lucas’s choice of the skull as the plot device.

Director Steven Spielberg

Even while moving the film forward to the ’50s and changing the villains to Russians, Spielberg was determined some things would remain constant. In keeping with the previous three films, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull includes the full Indiana Jones wardrobe we’ve come to expect including the bullwhip, as well as the map, the plane, and vehicles with red lines showing Indy’s globetrotting journey.

Steven Spielberg cast Russian actors in the roles of Russian soldiers so their accents would be authentic.

To be consistent with the previous films, Steven Spielberg shot the film using traditional stunts and kept the use of computer-generated imagery to an absolute minimum, although during filming he estimated about 30 per cent of VFX would have to be CGI.

When asked if Harrison Ford was too old to return as Indy, producer Frank Marshall quoted Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): “It’s not the years, it’s the mileage.” He explained that it would be interesting to see Indy in a different decade, and deal with all kinds of new and interesting things. The age also adds to Indy as a fallible and therefore believable character. He has few more aches and pains now. That’s the other thing people like: he’s a real character not a character with super-powers.

To prepare for his role as the legendary explorer Indiana Jones, the 64-year-old Harrison Ford spent three hours a day at the gym, and subsisted on a high-protein diet of fish and vegetables, thus building his body into a condition where he could perform his own stunts (he always kept himself fit anyway, as he hoped to complete all the five Indiana Jones films that were originally planned in the 1980s). Steven Spielberg later stated he was so impressed with Ford’s form that he could not tell the difference between the shoots for the third and fourth films.

Cate Blanchett in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Shia LaBeouf signed on for the film in April 2007. He was so excited to be part of the Indiana Jones franchise that he didn’t even read the script. To prepare for his role as the greaser Mutt Williams, he was asked to watch movies like The Blackboard Jungle, Rebel Without a Cause and The Wild One by Director Steven Spielberg. He also repeatedly watched the previous three Indiana Jones films and gained 15 pounds of muscle.

Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett says that everyone at her primary school wanted to kiss Harrison Ford, but she actually wanted to be Harrison Ford. She wanted to be Indiana Jones!

Sean Connery was offered a cameo appearance and the chance to return as Indy’s father, Dr Henry Jones, but he turned it down and chose to remain in retirement. Harrison Ford also joked that he was getting old enough to play his own father, so Sean wasn’t needed anymore.

Costume designer Mary Zophres (Catch Me If You Can) cites Marlene Dietrich’s look as the inspiration for Cate Blanchett’s character’s style. Zophres drew on Marlon Brando’s look in The Wild Ones to come up with the attire for Shia LaBeouf’s character. Amelia Earhart’s look provided the starting point for Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood.

While Indy may only seem to wear one costume on screen, in reality the designer had to make 60 pairs of pants and 72 shirts.

A giant Olive Python is the requisite snake in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Before The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was chosen as the title, several other titles were considered and even registered with the MPAA in August 2007, including The City of Gods, The Destroyer of Worlds, The Fourth Corner of the Earth, The Lost City of Gold, and finally, The Quest for the Covenant.

Steven Spielberg did not shoot the film in digital format, which his friend and partner George Lucas had adopted. Lucas approved, seeing that it looked, in his words, “like it was shot three years after the Last Crusade, you’d never know there was 20 years between shooting.”